World Bank’s $430-millon assistance to MUTP-II-A will help improve only travel infrastructure.
Finances for the ambitious Rs3,631-crore Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP)-II-A got sorted out on Friday as the World Bank (WB) signed agreements worth US$430 million with various central and state agencies. However, with major part of MUTP-II-A involving improvement of only travel infrastructure for the rail network, commuters in the city will continue to face their share of problems —crowded bridges, congested platforms, etc.
While accepting that there is no specific provision for augmentation of platforms, foot over bridges (FoB), and other ground infrastructure, WB senior urban transport specialist and project team leader Hubert Nove Josserand said there is some amount reserved for providing technical assistance (TA) in the overall project cost. “The project has a bracket of Rs62 crore for technical assistance, which can be utilised to work out ways and means of improving the platforms,” said Josserand.
PC Sehgal, managing director, Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), however, said that station improvement was outside his agency’s scope of work. “Our basic objective is to get more number of rakes. Also, the DC to AC conversion of lines will help improve the train traffic, which will naturally result in better commute for the suburban passengers,” said Sehgal, adding that platform and FoB construction requires huge funds and those can be provided only by the railway ministry.
According to Shashikant Limaye, who has formerly worked the Western Railways, only adding rakes is not the solution for augmentation of the suburban rail system. “There has not been a single addition in FoBs on central and western routes. Smaller stations, which are getting more footfalls, are heavily crowded during peak hours. If they continue to add rakes to the existing setup, the nightmare for commuters will never end,” said Limaye.
Limaye added that the headway time between two trains also needs to be reduced. “If we reduce time between the arrival and departure of each local, commuter clearance time will also improve,” said Limaye.
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